courtesy: Anadolu Agency
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has submitted a bill to parliament for Sweden’s NATO membership after months of back-and-fourth with Western Countries over the issue.
At a summit in July, Erdogan told his NATO allies that he would send the legislation to the Turkish parliament when it reconvened on October 1, having previously raised objections over a range of security concerns.
The Turkish officials, since the parliament reopened, have repeatedly said that Stockholm needs to take some concrete steps to calm down on the outland Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) armed group, which has been recognised as a “terrorist organisation” by Turkey, the European Union, and the United States.
The presidency took to X on Monday and stated, “The Protocol on Sweden’s NATO Accession was signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on October 23, 2023 and referred to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.”
The Protocol on Sweden's NATO Accession was signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on October 23, 2023 and referred to the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye.
— Republic of Türkiye Directorate of Communications (@Communications) October 23, 2023
The Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson, welcomed the development. “We look forward to being a NATO parliament,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Welcome that President Erdoğan signed Sweden’s ratification protocol to NATO and submitted it to the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye. Parliamentary procedures will now commence. We are looking forward to becoming a member of NATO.
— SwedishPM (@SwedishPM) October 23, 2023
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stolenberg stated that he is expecting speedy vote from the Turkish parliament.